Syracuse University has announced the establishment of the first master’s degree journalism program at an accredited journalism school to focus exclusively on writing about the arts, to be administered by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, in collaboration with the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Performing and Visual Arts, and the School of Architecture.

The aim of the Goldring Arts Journalism program is to educate the next generation of arts journalists by deepening their knowledge of a specific art form and building excellent writing and journalism skills. In addition, students will gain familiarity with all the arts to be ready for today’s newsrooms and able to write about cross-disciplinary art forms. Through the development of research and publication projects, the program also aims to “create a locus of investigation into the role of arts journalism in today’s media, as well as the nature of the relationship between the arts and criticism, and the arts and its audience.”

The 36-credit Masters Degree in Arts Journalism is completed in one calendar year in residence at Syracuse University and includes newly created required core courses in arts journalism. The program offers concentrations in five areas: architecture, film, fine arts, music, and theater. Students create their own unique curriculum, choosing from an array of graduate courses in journalism and the arts led by a diverse faculty of working journalists, artists, and academics.

Five Syracuse University professors—one in each discipline—will teach classes in critical writing and will act as subject advisers to the students. Mark Linder, who teaches theory and design at Syracuse University will lecture about architecture. Also for 2005–06, the distinguished visiting faculty members include Robert Ivy, FAIA, editor-in-chief of Architectural Record. During the course of the program, students also gain valuable real-world experience by participating in an internship at a newspaper or magazine.

Symposium explains program
The Goldring Arts Journalism Program will host a national symposium on “Writing About the Arts: The Critics, Craft & Education” November 19–20 at Syracuse University with a host of nationally known writers and artists, to be announced in the fall of 2004, and a keynote speech by the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Dana Gioia. Prospective students and the public are invited.

The program itself begins July 2005; applications are due February 1, 2005. For more information about the program, including the application process, and the November Symposium, visit the school’s Web site.

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